Turtles: A Lams Fanfiction
by ClaireCorinOShea
Summary: (Modern AU) Alexander Hamilton is babysitting a child and they decided to visit the zoo. While there, he finds himself fascinated with John Laurens and the passion he exhibited when talking about turtles.


**A/N The idea for this story came from a group chat I was in with many other fans of this musical. Somebody else had proposed it and I took up the task of writing it as a short story. I hope you enjoy reading it! I would also really appreciate feedback on this if you have any to give.**

"Jessica, where are you?" I called out while I jogged around the moderately sized zoo fairly quickly. Losing track of the little girl I was babysitting definitely would not look very nice upon my reputation as a caretaker of children. Watching children for a minimal pay while their parents went out on date night or the few hours between when their child got out of school and when they could leave their place of employment to return home.

"Jessica," I began to call out to her again but stopped myself when I caught a glance of her not far off in the distance. She was near the front of a crowd of children appearing to be between the ages of five and eleven gathered to hear a member of the staff give a speech about a type of animal, this species being the turtle as this aquatic animal's habitat is close behind them.

One thing about the member of staff that stuck out to me though was how old he appeared to be. Almost every other zookeeper is middle aged if not already with gray tinted hair but this man, or maybe even boy, was far from it. Curiosity beginning to cloud my mind, I decided to cautiously slip my way through the crowd to the front where Jessica Maloney was located, this being the best way to quench my thirst for information.

"The easiest way to tell the age of a turtle is to count the number of rings around the edge of the upper right corner of its back," a vaguely familiar voice informed the young zoo-goers. When I reached the front of the crowd, I was finally able to connect a face and a name to the familiar voice engraved in my memory. It was John Laurens.

"Is it time to go yet?" Little Jessica Malory whispered, I having conveniently bent down so my knees were almost touching the ground so my height wouldn't get in the way of those behind me. The primary reason why I was attempting to find her, asides from needing to know where she was, was so that we could leave. However, I had found such fascination in Lauren's words that I couldn't help myself but go against my own plans, something that rarely, if ever, happened.

"We don't have to go yet," the words contradictory to the schedule in my head quickly exited my mouth. A smile started to part the little girl's lips. "But after the zookeeper is done talking, we have to go," I added a contingency. Surprisingly, her smile didn't fault.

I'd like to say that I knew John Laurens pretty well. We often ended up working with each other for school projects and such, he being somewhat of a quiet one and me being quite an opinionated being. I didn't pay much else attention to him outside of those situations though and sometimes I felt quite bad about it, I'm not quite sure why though.

His words were continuously strung together with such passion that I haven't seen from anyone else, passion that others have told me that I'm the only one who speaks with such knowledge on the subject and the conviction and confidence in what he was saying. Part of me was somewhat upset that I was no longer the only person in the area that had such attribute, but the other part was, to a degree, satisfied that I was no longer the only one, that I wasn't an "odd one out" like I always had been pegged throughout my childhood, and still am occasionally to this day.

When most of the children had parted ways, most to reunite with their parents and/or legal guardians, I called out to Laurens to claim his age. It didn't take too long to gain his attention.

"Hello Alexander, surprised to see you here at the zoo, nonetheless at the turtle exhibit to hear my pathetic rambling," he was quick to depreciate himself.

I was absolutely surprised to hear those words come out of his mouth, a few number of words said to devalue those he said beforehand. Quite the sentiment to the theory that it's easier to destroy something you've build than to construct it in the first place.

"I actually thought it was pretty good," I complimented him, attempting to get him to change his thoughts on his words. Good is an understatement though, it was far beyond the caliber of 'good'. Potentially even further ahead of that of 'great'. I was just as quick to hide my fascination with his speech as he was to put them down. Part of my mind felt somewhat obligated to conceal my newly sparked curiosity in turtles to avoid potentially giving off an heir of creepiness, for the lack of a better term.

"You really thought so?" John asked, looking for approval on multiple fronts. Approval that what he said actually was worthwhile and nicely constructed and that I actually liked it.

"I'm not one to tell white lies to spare feelings, I wouldn't have given you such commendations if I didn't believe in what I was saying," I answered his question. What I said wasn't entirely untrue, I don't tell lies to my friends in order to evade dealing blows to one's emotions. The same may not be true for family members but I would never tell a lie to a friend. At least I think Laurens is a friend.

"Thanks, Alex," he said with a bright smile that began to take over his face. "I appreciate it."

"How did you get a job here?" I couldn't help myself but ask. "You definitely haven't studded turtles and environmental sciences at a university, I hardly think you're qualified," I started to joke around a bit, something that I rarely ever do and the few occasions that I do are only around fairly close friends. Well, I guess that answers my question as to if John qualifies as.a friend.

"They were in search for someone to man the turtle exhibit so I applied. They were a bit uneasy about hiring someone of my age but after I displayed my knowledge on the subject, in addition to a number of my detailed drawings, I was hired part-time," he gushed, appearing to be quite proud of his unheard of feat.

"How long have you been employed here?" I asked as a follow-up question.

"A week and a half tomorrow," he was quick to answer my inquiry. "Soon enough I'll be able to get another turtle to accompany Jamie, who appears to be becoming quite lonely. Especially without me there."

I had absolutely forgotten that I was caring for a child until I felt a light shake on my arm I looked over in that direction to discover little Jessica attempting to detract my attention away from John and towards her.

"I thought you said we had to leave after the zookeeper was done talking," Jessica reminded me of my earlier established contingency. I nodded, acknowledging her words.

"Looks like you have to go now, see you at school tomorrow, Alexander." Had it not been for the child who's wellbeing I had to oversee, I absolutely would have asked my peer more questions about his affections towards turtles, but time would not allow me to do so.

As the days went on, I made a nearly daily visit to the zoo, most times accompanied by a child I was temporarily caring for but a few occasions partnered by myself. Most afternoons I lingered closer to the back of the crowd but every few days I made the exception to move nearer to the front, able to sneak in a few questions when the young ones left. Over the course of a week I had acquired information on John Laurens' infatuation and utter fascination with the long life-spanned aquatic and terrestrial animal. He had informed me that in his younger years, turtles commonly occupied a creek that passed through the backyard of his house so his interest in them cropped up fairly early in his life. His parents didn't take too much of a liking to his borderline obsession with them, somewhat upset that he'd rather be meandering near their creek tending to the turtles than taking part in athletics or studying but in the end, they learned to deal with it.

***********************************

"Happy birthday," I heard multiple say as they passed by me in the school hallways, I nodding in response to acknowledge that I had heard them. While the sentiment and appreciation was somewhat there on a vocal level, I personally felt nothing. The just felt like empty words to me. I could hardly name any of these people by name. Most of them probably just heard word of a birthday and are parroting the same message transmitted throughout the school 'if you see so-and-so today be sure to wish them a Happy Birthday.'

"Hey Alex," John Laurens greeted me as he passed by, a vibrant shine reflecting from between his lips. Genuine, something I haven't seen in so long. "Happy birthday, man. I've got something for you," he stated, I stepping off towards the side to join him, getting out of the flow of traffic. The last thing I'd want to happen on my birthday is to end up in the hospital.

"You didn't have to get me anything," I commented to his statement, I was too late with the objection though, he was already pulling something out of his pocket.

"Here you go," he said, out stretching his left hand out in my direction. It was a laminated slip. I picked it up and examined it, reading every word on it.

'Church Regional Zoo Annual Pass'

"I see you at the zoo quite often so I figured this would make the perfect gift," he stated sheepishly. I smiled.

"Thanks John," I smiled, thankful for the thoughtful gift.


End file.
